the algeria hostage siege continues for a third day with several foreigners still being held by islamic terrorists as france braces for more fallout over its mali intervention. david cameron is accused of fudging the e.u. with issues issues i should say with political rivals seizing on extracts of his address on britain's future in the union which they say threatens the country's democracy. children girls. oh it's a tragedy for the bush with the song girls right there exists and. i can tell you

i'm sincerely exhilarated right now so liberations of a pin phinney means it's time for mass bathing in freezing waters our correspondent simply couldn't miss out. live from our studios in moscow you're watching r t with me and he said now it's good to have you with us our top story this hour julian military stepping up efforts to free the last remaining international hostages held by islamic terrorists at a gas facility the siege is now in its third day and has seen at least twelve civilians killed when algerian forces launched a blitz rescue attempt hundreds of local workers and several foreigners were freed but the remaining captives include british. arkan and japanese nationals the

islamists say they took the hostages in retribution for the ongoing french intervention in neighboring mali paris is standing by its campaign and claims the algerian crisis justifies it further but some say the stance could backfire on the french government as polly boycott now reports. it's all calm on the streets of paris but with an escalating military intervention in mali and an algerian hostage crisis in response to it french public opinion is predicted to turn against francois hollande pledged to help the mali government once he's really hit by the the enormity of what they may be taking on in mali there may be a lot of questions then asked about his judgment and a lot of people who are supposedly supporting him now or may very quickly turn around and criticize it's already beginning to happen we've spoken to provisions here who lament the fact that they weren't told in advance that the military

offensive was set to take place meanwhile voices in the french media complain of a war with no pictures they say that there's a media blackout and accuse the government of making it intentional the journalist surprising thing is that. we had no. recourse or information from. the day after this really started day and for most people that when you see what's happening what has happened in iraq or in afghanistan surely if you will if you read to the region and if he lasts long it's going to be a problem comparisons already being made to the usa as experience in iraq and afghanistan conflicts that were initially supported at home out of a sense of patriotism and support for the troops but it turned into lengthy and costly and deeply unpopular wars at home now if this mission creep and it becomes only driving on the terrorists. ministers and even themselves seem to

be saying. that it's going to be a failure because you cannot drive out all the terrorists. many soldiers die. there are attacks in paris then public opinion will shift the way for other wars either was started by france or was started by them by the us nevertheless french president francois hollande remains committed to the french military offensive in mali making grand statements that the french intervention won't tend until legitimate authority in the country is restored but what many french people are beginning to wonder is just how long that might take and out what cost. r t paris well moody's to researcher dr yunus where you from columbia university told us that the french intervention in mali has materialistic geo political motives.

the konami crisis has shown that the western developed countries have. lost the economic competition against the new. players china russia south africa the brics countries basically and now that tending to militarize this competition trying to expel the chinese from the region for the natural resources is very important especially rhenium because it's very necessary elements and resourceful france this is basically a new fight and competition over the resources of the african countries this is going most probably to spread in the region and there's also this new cold war that it's taking place one of its battles being fought in syria and as we speak and it's now also in africa we've seen what happened in libya and now with the french are coming back again in and they're all former colonies to basically play the role of the master especially to the us now is more focused on now in asia so it's

a big political game and geopolitical game in the region. well arty's andrew farmer has been looking into the possible pretax for an international struggle over mali and the rest of africa. marly potentially has a wealth of minerals that can be exploited as far as all is concerned there is zero proven reserves however it is believed major oil fields have been discovered in the north of the country although that still has to be mapped on top of that mali is africa's third largest exporter of gold beaten only by south africa and ghana and there are also some five thousand tons of uranium deposits the french have two major mines in the country already and extract extensive amount from neighboring niger and would not want that jeopardize the many ways they rely almost entirely on uranium for their nuclear energy all this is led some analysts to think that big economic incentives are also fueling the u.s. backed french intervention here's what the author eth william angle had to say the

critical strategical goal of u.s. foreign policy so you meet all of us here residents is to prevent the core he's expanding your region lambaste from russia or china to iran to northern africa and the rest of africa that could leave the united states has been so simple so according to him the u.s. is fearful of china's increasing economic presence in africa in the figures seem to back up that argument china has increased its investment in africa exponentially over the last decade and they are catching america fast despite the u.s. investing over one hundred billion dollars over the last two years molly it can't be denied does have significant geo political importance we've got more updates an expert analysis of the crisis in north africa on our website r.t. dot com.

download the official cation yourself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television or it just doesn't matter how would your mobile device if you could watch your t.v. anytime anywhere. prime minister david cameron is using the developing hostage crisis in algeria to delay his announcement on britain's future role within the e.u. that's according to the leader of the u.k. independence party nigel farage this after the pm was forced to cancel friday speech on the issue or to start a further caught up with the u.k.i.p. leader to discuss the released extracts from the would be actress. gita the ongoing hostage crisis in algeria involving a number of british nationals amongst others the prime minister had to postpone

that long awaited for speech on europe but nonetheless some extracts of what he was expected to say in that speech have been revealed to us more about that we're outside europa house in london to talk to the leader of the u.k. independence party nigel farage the party that says we're better off out the nigel and some of the excerpts that reveal quite a positive thing to that he does well positive in the sense of you know he's using euro skeptic language to pursue a euro agenda she exactly what harold wilson did forty years ago this speech is happening because of the rise of using it on the rise of ukip has led to massive discontent on the backbenchers in the house of commons and amongst the conservative party in the country that's what he's responding to so that's why he talked tough and says he was renegotiate but the reality of what he says if you read the subtext is that the e.u. is very good for us but it serves our interests and i promise i promise god to do my best over the next five years to do everything i can to keep britain

a member of that union this issue is a key constitutional issue it isn't even about economics it's about who governs britain it's about are we dependent nation as a democracy and determine their own future or not and i want to referendum now promise because i want to ask there's a lot of concern that if a person left the this is massively affect our relationships our trade relationships certainly have a hit on the economy as a result of that what do you say to those concerns a classic scare tactics always employed by the status quo whether they're defending slavery for the called laws or e.u. membership you know transparently body with a whole series of shocks you know three million british jobs would be lost if we left the european union really really we import massively more from the e.u. than we sell to them would mislead is stop selling cars. it would have the we all know what the new thing a person should be looking to trade outside the well you know what i'm saying is

this that europe is aging europe as a percentage of the world economy is now below the fall in quite sharply it is gripped by eurozone crisis which is likely because of their fanaticism to keep it together to last for up to a decade and yeah ok europe is the. exact it is an important market place for the rest of the world to us. because we're stuck inside this old fashioned nineteenth century concept of a customs union we cannot make our own trade deals anywhere else in the world let's have a free trade deal with europe like the swiss do and let's reengage with the rest of the world we've always see this latest postponement to take understandable reasons but i've seen a number of delays already what do you think about that the fact that this is such a huge issue and we just. you know i've been waiting for years for this speech another couple weeks doesn't matter too much thank you very much for joining us nigel for us and the clear information about when exactly that big speech in europe will be delivered some mean is that it could be as early as next week and of course

the latest face payment making that big speech on europe no less controversial. well this month is payback time for the fun and frolics of christmas and new year and for all orthodox christians it's only means of freezing dip into ice cold waters and mom as we report later in the program for you. also britain's laura shank slave trade human trafficking is on the rise despite efforts to stamp out the exploitation of immigrants are cheap report just ahead. we'll look at. technology innovation all the moves developments around russia we've got the future of coverage.

download the official application yourself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television well it just doesn't matter now with your mobile device you can watch your t.v. anytime anywhere. if you need free. education free instruction free. maintenance free. free. free. download free broadcast video for your media project a free media r.t. dot com.

here with our to live from moscow now it's thought that up to twenty seven million people in the world today are caught in some form of slavery about eight hundred thousand are being trafficked it trafficked across borders each year what might surprise you is that one magnet for those exploiting others for sex or forced labor is britain or a smith investigates why. it wasn't allowed to do anything i was the one to know the claim. to the children. but i was never allowed to take the kids to school i was locked inside the house when i was nowhere and open the door side it sounds like something from an eighteenth century work house but it's britain today so it was trafficked to this country aged twelve now nineteen she's still too afraid to talk about her experience but the fact that she's played here by an actor doesn't make her horrific story any less real i was

getting beaten by then. i was slapped and right i kept getting the right. things i was like a slave never a time i kept playing i kept trying to clean myself up and i kept getting called and she was shouting asking. if the house is clean i still have to keep playing. eventually sarah's female employer threw her out of the house aged just fourteen with no way of contacting relatives at home she lived on the street for nine months begging until she eventually found help through a pact an international group campaigning against child trafficking it's a story that all too common and it's not just about domestic slavery according to experts many people are trafficked to work on cannabis farms in the u.k. and they're often kept in a perpetual cycle of debt or through fear of repercussions for their families but another sector that says is rife with trafficking victims particularly from asia is

high street nail bars so next time you go for a manicure pedicure ask yourself who serving you and it is the south that sells figures from the into departmental ministerial group on human trafficking show it's risen by thirty three percent compared to last year and victims come from all over the world africa europe and the far east. more than two thousand. victims there's a retreat. to say they were just ten percent or twenty. trafficked into this country. business. was for organized criminal gangs this is the second most profitable thing to drugs and a lot less chance of getting caught that rise could be because more cases of being reported but chloe seta who works with trafficking victims including sara says it's partly down to a lack of police awareness only eight cases of trafficking were successfully

prosecuted last year trafficking is seen not just in the u.k. but worldwide as a low risk high profit crime those criminals who might have previously been smuggling drugs. may now be looking to also use work with children and people because a child can be recycled a human can be recycled to trucks once they're sold that they have a one off crime so there's a number of ways of control and once that happens they are literally sort of assigned to watch out for hospital time unless the authorities do something to intervene antony steen founder of the parliamentary group on trafficking is leading the biggest ever conference on the subject held in britain straight. a modern day slavery is alive and well and ten times the size of what it was when it was abolished two hundred years ago but prosecution relies heavily on his say evidence and testimony and huge numbers of victims like sarah never want to talk about their

experiences again laura smith r.t. london. now to some other world news this hour gunmen have blown up an important oil pipeline in yemen the blast from explosives reportedly planted overnight caused serious damage on halted oil transportation in the southern province the pipeline operated by the korean national oil company transfers crude oil to export terminals in the gulf of aden al qaeda which the government blamed for the blast has frequently attacked oil routes since the ousting of yemen's veteran president of the way early last year. and in afghanistan taliban fighters being held in custody in pakistan are to be released according to pakistani officials islam about hopes the move will bolster cobbles africa to bring the militants closer to the negotiating table ahead of the looming nato troop withdrawal from afghanistan

however the number of detainees to be freed and where they'll be released two remains clear venezuelan president hugo chavez has reportedly been moved from the hospital in cuba where he was receiving cancer treatment to a secret location is rumored to now be in a bunker a specially built for former cuban leader fidel castro it apparently is to avoid leaks to the media about travis's house and in preparation for him to return home elling leader has not been seen since his latest cancer surgery in mid december and later missed his own inauguration ceremony now how better to atone for the. excesses i should say of the holidays then taking a naked plunge into ice cold water that's right it's the epiphany for orthodox christians and a day for a breathtaking dip in line with centuries old tradition our very own correspondent peter all over has been enjoying the full experience let's have a look. winter temperatures commonly fall below minus fifteen celsius in the

russian capital perfect conditions for a swim say this lot they are part of a group who refer to themselves as a walrus club and they believe in the health benefits of taking a few subzero laps yeah sure to them goes quite prange khaled's all my life until i turned sixty when i took up i swimming and i've never had any kind of a cold since then you know as i was acquitted i used to have terrible back pain but it's gone now i am healed there were surely a natural cause but after i took up i swimming i regained my flexibility i could even do a proper like split and that's how it works i recommended to everyone it's the only existing cure to all illnesses and maybe this isn't a new activity in the tradition of the russian orthodox church will ship his mark the feast of the pitney with a late night submergence into the icy waters symbolizing the baptism of jesus to

anyone thinking that they would like to give it a go i do love these woods from my own experience it's not even close. yet so how did provided the first day put that heart from what i read notion that the russian legs aren't girl tell you you're there exerting well i could say i'm feeling very exhilarated right now. the head walrus at this swimming hole is bloody new going to be in can he's the chairman of the russian ice swimming and cold water treatment federation and insists that there are genuine medical benefits if you the main way i swimming works for you is through blood circulation driven by cold and struggling to stay warm your body contracts his blood vessels so there's less blood pumped around the system so where does the excess blood go it goes to the vital organs that is why it's good for the kidneys and liver they are constantly cleansed. love to me it has also trained thrill seekers who want to push the abilities of the human body to the limits. dave holds the record for time spent in icy water.

spent sixty minutes in there and i helped him get out of that condition when he could hardly talk he couldn't even say mama he couldn't walk his arms wouldn't move but thirty five minutes later he was recovered and could talk to the press. the russian ice swimming federation has one and a half million members across the country and vladimir does his best to drum up more support with his own personal guarantee for years for over i jumped into a nice hole for the first time thirty four years ago i saw that people who did it are never sick and so i decided to give it a try now look at me fit as a butcher's dog. well it might not be everybody's idea of a good time but be it for health reasons or for spiritual reasons there's no shortage of people willing to take the plunge peter all of a faulty moscow. from what i see swimming

being given the cold shoulder as the u.k. foreign office says british veterans who served in the legendary arctic convoy are not allowed to accept russian medals for bravery report on mine. but ukraine's convicted former prime minister yulia timoshenko could get her sentence extended to life find out why r t dot com. they're just a director of the historic bolshoi theatre has successfully undergone an initial operation to save his sight following a gruesome acid attack in central moscow however doctors say it's too early to predict whether sergei filin will fully manage to regain his vision arches a lead singer said ski reports. so gay feeling was returning from work on thursday night when and not notified man called him out by his name sygate turned around to

respond and the man reportedly threw a ball of acid into his face we know that sergei filin was taken to a hospital and the doctors have been battling to save his eyesight persecutors office has launched an investigation a criminal case to determine who stands behind this attack at the bolshoi press office so sad that sergei was intimidated for several months his car tires were slashed human seed threatening phone calls and his facebook page was hacked as as we saw in the hollywood movie the black swan definitely the big stage is certainly a rather conflict zone and there is some infighting happening behind the scenes the bolshoi theatre has never been an exception to that there have been stories of some serious infighting to get roles to get a prima ballerina positions we had heard many revelations from former artists of the bolshoi on that still we talked to the colleagues and employees of sygate feeling they were all shell shocked at what happened similarly. it's an incredibly

difficult day for us the dons companies an enormous shock it's really hot speak as with always wet chilled to shoulder with said it's a brutal crime and i hope says responsible will be found and punished but of course race has to use a coworker over good and the police should look into people who would potentially benefit from creating that sort of scandal and compromised the reputation of the theater just today surrogate was telling me how a couple of days ago he got into his car with his children and realized two things car tires were pierced he told me i feel as if i'm living on the frontline despite all the infighting and despite the fact i still gave was the one who was assigning all the roles in the bolshoi theatre still the bolshoi never made criminal had lines and this attack is something completely outrageous for the bolshoi theatre but definitely everyone is waiting for the results of the investigation for some of these preliminary data from the security authorities to see whether this could have

been inside job and whether somebody inside the bolshoi theatre could have been responsible for this terrible attack. well it's back to the financial front line after the break when max kaiser takes on the big bankers and their mainstream media . yet another tragic shooting right on the streets of the capital is again cause to open the gun debate across the nation now all the talking heads are saying that you got to take away the guns to be safe well the problem is that the shooting happened right on the streets of the capital of a country where the guns have already been taken away paris france three kurdish women one of whom was a kurdish separatist party co-founder were shot dead at the scene of the crime was

right outside of a cursed institute which leads the police to think that it was an assassination you see when it comes to terrorism drug cartels the mafia you can make all the gun laws that you want but the bad guys will still have plenty of guns because they live outside the law al qaeda and mexican drug cartels don't go to the stores and patiently wait for their background checks to be done before they buy their guns taken away all the guns through legal means won't matter there will still be murder and there will still be armed thugs and terrorists but that's just my opinion.

welcome to the kaiser report. you know. the currency war is ome bring out the body bags the first shots have been fired in the war to end all wars the currency war stays here oh yeah max kaiser this is been the big story of the kaiser report for the past three or four years and the f.t. from paces the financial times or reads germany to shift fifty four thousand gold bars home one of the biggest shipments of yellow metal on record which inspired this front page on the financial times was this announcement on the deutsche a boon to spank web site deutsch a boon to spanks new storage plan for germany's gold reserves by two thousand and twenty the bundesbank intends to store half of germany's gold reserves in its own vaults in germany the other half will remain a storage at its partner central banks in new york and london while germany has no

partner central banks this is every man for himself and those with the most gold are going to win the currency war as we have been warning about now for years this is why the euro has been trading relatively well against the dollar because in the euro zone there are twelve thirteen thousand tons of gold versus the u.s. which has maybe a thousand times but one of the big problem stacey of course is the central banks of elise there are gold out and sold it and it's now sitting in the pockets of hundreds of millions of indians in the confidence of india and so when germany goes to collect their gold they find that it's not there it's been sold and that's what this war is all about especially now that the central banking system is collapsing and countries want the only currency without counterparty risk the only currency you can print more of and that would be gold now they mention their partner central banks and this is a remnant.